PROFESSOR T
Wednesday, ITV, 9pm
THE offbeat crime drama is back for its third series, with Ben Miller in the title role as renowned criminologist Professor Jasper Tempest.
As ever, he’ll be battling his traumatic past and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) while helping Oxford police with their most baffling cases.
The story picks up after the shocking conclusion to the second season, with the boffin behind bars and awaiting trial.
As you might expect, he doesn’t turn out to be the typical inmate. Luckily, as the strange sights, sounds and smells begin to get him down, Dan and Lisa arrive with a distraction – a murder case involving siblings.
Ben is thrilled to be back and says he has an affinity with Jasper, having also suffered from OCD – albeit a different form – decades ago.
“Professor T is germophobic and places things in order.
“Mine was about numbers, about touching objects or walking in and out of a room a certain number of times.
“I hid it pretty well – I could disguise it. It was a great comfort to me.”
Ben says he still has anxiety, although cognitive behavioural therapy has helped.
“What I’ve noticed is that if those behaviours come back, I don’t really panic about them any more. I just think, OK, my anxiety’s up so I need to do more to relieve it: meditation, exercise, listening to music, and the biggest one of all – feeling the anxiety, not trying to escape or control it.
“At the end of the day, the anxious feelings don’t last that long if you walk into them.”
Shame he can’t pass that advice on to the professor.
If you enjoy this run, you’ll be pleased to know a fourth has already been commissioned.